Things bakers know: Don’t freeze disks of pie dough — do this instead
Stocking your freezer with ready-to-bake crust is a pro tip.
Date
November 5, 2025
If you’re getting ahead on your baking for the holidays, you probably already know that pie crust is one of the best things to make in advance and stash in your freezer. Typically, recipes will instruct you to form the dough into a disk and wrap it tightly before popping it in the freezer for up to two months. A great tip! But we’ve got an even better one.
As the old saying goes: If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready. Years ago, when I worked at a bakery, our Thanksgiving pie crust-making started months in advance in order to meet demand, so freezing dough was a must. But rather than freeze disks of dough, which need to be thawed, rolled, and shaped before they’re then filled and baked, we’d freeze rolled-out pastry right in its pie pan. And now I do the same thing at home.
When I’m ready to bake my pies, all I need to do is pull the crusts from the freezer, add my filling, and bake. It saves time when I need it most, in those frenzied days leading up to the holiday feast, and the results are great — the only necessary adjustment is adding a few minutes to the pie’s overall bake time. This even works for pies that benefit from a parbaked crust, such as pumpkin. I take my crust all the way through the parbaking step, let cool, then wrap and freeze; when the time comes to finish the pie, I just add the filling and bake (no need to thaw).
If space is a concern and you’re making several pies, you can nest the pie tins together (I swear by these metal ones, which can safely go from freezer to oven, but you could use disposable aluminum too, if you don’t want to tie up your pans), adding a piece of parchment between them as insurance against sticking. Then wrap the whole stack with plastic wrap (or set into a plastic bag and seal the bag tightly).
And if you’re making a double-crust pie, put one crust into the pan as directed above, then roll the other disk of dough flat. Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper, then gently roll into a tube and set carefully in the freezer. You’ll need to let it thaw before unrolling, but because it’s a thin piece of dough rather than a thick disk, it’ll thaw a lot faster.
Here’s to more pie (and less stress).
Want more Thanksgiving tips? Check out our Thanksgiving Survival Guide, because it’s never too early. Want to get even further ahead? Freeze your fully-assembled fruit pies (yes, really!).
Cover photography by Mark Weinberg, food styling by Liz Neily
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